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2010 FA Cup Final
The 2010 FA Cup Final was the 129th final of the world's oldest domestic football cup competition, the FA Cup. The match took place on 15 May 2010, at Wembley Stadium, London. The match was contested by 2009 winners Chelsea and 2008 winners Portsmouth, and it was refereed by Chris Foy from Merseyside. Chelsea entered the final looking to complete the The Double for the first time in their history, having been crowned the 2009-10 Premier League Champions the week before. Portsmouth entered the final in a markedly different position facing an uncertain future, having already been relegated from the Premier League on 10 April following financial troubles, which saw them become the first ever Premier League club to enter administration, incurring an automatic 9 point deduction. After Kevin-Prince Boateng missed a penalty in the 54th minute, Didier Drogba scored from a free kick in the 58th minute to lead Chelsea to a 1-0 victory, and their first Double. Chelsea's Ashley Cole won the FA Cup for a record 6th time. It was the first final in which both teams missed a penalty. Frank Lampard's penalty miss was the first to completely miss the target in an FA Cup Final since Charlie Wallace in 1913 (Wallace's team also won 1-0). David James was the oldest goalkeeper to play in an FA Cup Final. The Europa League qualifying place normally due to the winners of the FA Cup became irrelevant for the 2010 final, after Chelsea qualified through the Premier League, and Portsmouth were refused a UEFA license due to their situation. With Manchester United having won the League Cup, the qualifying place due to the finalists instead passed to the 7th placed Premier League team, Liverpool. Background Up to the 2010 final, Chelsea had reached the FA Cup Final nine times, winning five of them, while Portsmouth had won two of their four finals. Portsmouth were the most recent side to reach the final of the FA Cup in the same season as being relegated from Premier League; the last team to do the same was Middlesbrough in 1997. Chelsea won both of the games between the two sides in the 2009–10 Premier League, winning 2–1 at Stamford Bridge and 5–0 at Fratton Park. Chelsea and Portsmouth had been drawn together in the FA Cup twice before, each winning one tie; their first FA Cup encounter came in the Fifth Round in 1928–29, when Portsmouth won 1–0 in a replay at Fratton Park after they had drawn 1–1 at Stamford Bridge; Portsmouth went on to reach the final. Their next meeting was 68 years later, in the Sixth Round of the 1996–97 competition; Chelsea won the match 4–1 and went on to win the trophy. Because Chelsea won the 2009–10 Premier League, and Portsmouth's appeal for a UEFA licence was rejected by the FA, their 2010–11 UEFA Europa League berth went to the team that finished in seventh place in the league, Liverpool. Route to the final *2009–10 FA Cup PL = Premier League C = Championship L1 = League One L2 = League Two Pre-match Officials Merseyside-based referee Chris Foy was named as the referee for the 2010 FA Cup Final on 13 April 2010. Foy's previous assignments as the primary referee at Wembley Stadium included the 2007 FA Trophy Final and the 2009 FA Community Shield. He was also the fourth official for the 2008 FA Cup Final. His assistants for the 2010 final were John Flynn, representing the Royal Air Force Football Association, Shaun Procter-Green of the Lincolnshire Football Association, with Andre Marriner of the Birmingham County Football Association as the fourth official. The reserve match official was the Northamptonshire County Football Association's Stuart Burt. Kits Since both sides' first-choice kits are blue, the toss of a coin was used to decide which team had choice of kit. Chelsea won the toss and wore their new blue home kit, while Portsmouth wore a new white change kit with burgundy and salmon pink trim. Opening ceremony Throughout the 2009–10 FA Cup season, the Football Association took the FA Cup trophy on a nationwide tour covering 30 venues. The tour began at A.F.C. Bournemouth's Dean Court stadium on 12 November 2009 and culminated at Trafalgar Square on 13 May 2010, two days before the final. At the events, fans were able to have photos taken with the trophy as well as take part in other interactive activities. Immediately before the match kicked off, there was a short opening ceremony in which the trophy was placed on a plinth at the mouth of the players' tunnel before the players emerged and lined up along a red carpet. The players were then introduced to the final's chief guest and the official party, after which the national anthem was sung. Match Details |goals2= |stadium=Wembley Stadium, London |attendance=88,335 |referee=Chris Foy (Merseyside) }} |valign="top"| |valign="top" width="50%"| |} Criticism of pitch The much-maligned Wembley pitch came in for criticism from Chelsea captain John Terry following the match. He said, "The pitch ruined the final. It’s probably the worst pitch we’ve played on all year. It was not good enough for a Wembley pitch." External links and references 2010